McLaren Group has secured a loan of more than £40 million to help fund construction of its new factory, where its new MP4-12C will be built.
The Independent says the loan from HSBC is the first time McLaren has taken on debt of more than £1m since 2005. McLaren Group will own the factory in Woking and then lease it back to McLaren Automotive, the road car side of the business. A total of 300 people will be employed at the factory.
See pics of the McLaren MP4-12c in action recently at Goodwood
McLaren told the newspaper that the loan would also “provide head room on its facilities to assist in the buyback of the remaining Daimler shares by the end of 2011".
Daimler is selling its shares in McLaren back to the company after the German firm decided to buy and run its own Formula One team, instead of giving McLaren full works support.
Read more on the strong interest in the McLaren MP4-12C
The Independent also said that McLaren was looking to sell 48 per cent of McLaren Automotive to private investors, with the rest of the company retained between Ron Dennis, the Bahraini Mumtalakat sovereign wealth fund and the Swiss TAG group.
Initial production of the MP4-12C will commence at McLaren’s current factory later this year, before shifting to the new site in the spring.
